Congress Working Committee member and Lok Sabha MP Shashi Tharoor spoke on Thursday about providing opportunities for younger people to contest polls, indicating that his upcoming fight from Thiruvananthapuram in the general elections may be his last in the constituency.

Talking to reporters on the sidelines of a Congress programme in Thiruvananthapuram, Mr Tharoor, however, said there was no finality about it since it is politics. “I do believe that at some point, the time comes to make room for younger people. And that’s my thinking,” he said.

In the same breath, he said, “In politics, there is another slogan which is ‘never say never'”.

He was responding to a query on his remarks in a recent TV show in which he repeatedly said the 2024 Lok Sabha elections may mark his final contest from the Thiruvananthapuram constituency.

“I didn’t say never, I said I think it will be my last election,” the 67-year-old MP clarified.

The Congress leader said if he is going to contest the polls from Thiruvananthapuram, he would fight it as though it were his last election, in full spirits, doing his very best for the people.

Mr Tharoor, who entered politics over a decade ago, achieved a resounding victory in the 2009 general election, securing the Thiruvananthapuram Lok Sabha constituency in Kerala and marking his debut in Parliament.

In his first electoral battle, Mr Tharoor triumphed over his closest CPI rival P Ramachandran Nair by a substantial margin of over 95,000 votes.

Following this success, he maintained his hold on the seat with decisive victories in the 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

Before beginning his political career, Mr Tharoor worked with the United Nations, and in 2006 represented India as the official candidate for the position of UN Secretary-General, finishing in second place out of seven candidates in the race.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

The US state of Maine on Thursday blocked former president Donald Trump from its Republican presidential primary after the top election official ruled him ineligible due to involvement in the January 2021 assault on the US Capitol.

Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows said in her ruling that the events of January 6, 2021 “occurred at the behest of, and with the knowledge and support of, the outgoing President.”

“The US Constitution does not tolerate an assault on the foundations of our government and (Maine law) requires me to act in response,” the ruling read.

Maine joins Colorado which earlier this month also disqualified Trump from its Republican primary, moves that will certainly be challenged in the US Supreme Court.

The rulings in both states invoked the US Constitution’s 14th Amendment, which bars from office anyone formerly sworn to protect the country who later engages in insurrection.

Trump’s campaign quickly slammed Bellows’ ruling as “attempted theft of an election and the disenfranchisement of the American voter.”

“Make no mistake, these partisan election interference efforts are a hostile assault on American democracy,” campaign spokesman Steven Cheung said in a statement, accusing President Joe Biden and Democrats of “relying on the force of government institutions to protect their grip on power.”

Cheung said Trump would appeal the Maine secretary of state’s decision.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Israeli soldiers ignored cries for “help” when they stormed a Gaza building holding three hostages just days before killing them by mistake, said a military investigation published on Thursday.

The soldiers also heard “hostages” shouted in Hebrew on December 10, but interpreted that as a “terrorist deception attempt” by Hamas operatives to lure them into the building in the Gaza City district of Shejaiya, the probe said.

Believing the building was rigged with explosives, the soldiers exited and killed five Hamas operatives trying to escape, it added.

The hostages then probably fled the building also, and on December 15 Israeli soldiers shot them after mistakenly identifying them as a threat, the investigation said.

Two were killed instantly. The third hostage fled and soldiers were ordered to hold fire in order to identify him, the probe said.

Hearing cries of “help!” and “they’re shooting at me”, Israeli commanders asked the surviving hostage to advance towards the soldiers.

But two soldiers “who did not hear the order” because of “noise” from a nearby tank shot him dead.

The three hostages were all shirtless and one had been carrying a white flag.

On December 14, an army drone had identified signs of “SOS” and “help, three hostages” on a building close to where the three hostages were shot.

The army “failed in its mission to rescue the hostages in this event,” army chief Herzi Halevi said in a statement published along with the report of the investigation.

The three fatalities “could have been prevented”, he added.

Soon after the killings of the hostages were announced, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said it “broke my heart” and “broke the whole nation’s heart”.

Israel has been mourning the deaths of the hostages identified as Yotam Haim, Alon Shamriz and Samer El-Talalqa.

The killings of the three men, all in their twenties, have sparked protests in Tel Aviv, where demonstrators demanded that the authorities come up with a new plan to bring home the remaining 129 hostages still held in the Gaza Strip.

About 250 people were taken hostage during Hamas’s October 7 attacks in Israel, which resulted in the deaths of around 1,140 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli figures.

Vowing to destroy Hamas and bring back the hostages, Israel launched a massive military offensive against the Palestinian Islamist movement that has left much of Gaza in ruins.

The territory’s Hamas government says the war has killed at least 21,320 people, mostly women and children.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)